Staff MemberCommunity Manager

Note: Solar Panels & Capacitor (Solar) are currently only usable for bases (Space and planet)

How Solar Energy works:
- The algorithm calculates the amount of sun-rays that will hit the solar panel for a certain placement during the day. The placement affects their efficiency (see factors listed below)
- This average efficiency is then displayed with the GREEN LCDs (up to four LED lights)
- The current efficiency is displayed by the YELLOW LED lights (up to four LED lights)
- If solar panels produce more electricity than currently needed, the surplus energy is stored in the Capacitor (Solar) block like in a battery.
- To display the surplus of energy (or the “energy reserve”), there is now a battery icon in the main page of Control Panel that shows the current content of the battery.
- Note: conventional generators (fuel driven) do not store excess power in the battery!

Factors that will increase or reduce the efficiency on a PLANET:
- Placement behind an obstacle (tree, stone, base, mountain etc) leads to a reduced efficiency
- Stronger Light Intensity on the playfield increases efficiency on a global scale (parameter: DayLightIntensity in playfield.yaml).
- Light Intensities overall impact on the efficiency is influenced by the weather condition in a second step: eg when it is cloudy or raining, light intensity effect decreases and thus also efficiency of panel
- Angle of panel towards sun: best efficiency when sun hits perpendicular on panel (eg on equator a flat solar panel lying on ground will have highest efficiency at noon, while a sloped solar panel close to pole while be better)
- AtmosphereDensity: higher density = less overall efficiency
- AtmosphereDensity is modified by latitude! Example: If the position of the Solar Panel is closer to the poles, it is less efficient for the same AtmosphereDenisty factor, because sun travels through more atmosphere than on equator.
- Ground fog reduces efficiency

Factors that will increase or reduce the efficiency in SPACE:
- Angle of panel towards sun: best efficiency when sun hits perpendicular on panel
- Distance of sun: the further the orbit playfield is away from sun, the lower the efficiency (eg lower efficiency in Ningues orbit than Aestus orbit)

--Asking dumb questions about something that might seem to have obvious reasons, means ruling out the reasons that might have something or nothing to do with it (aka issue sharpening)

Personally I'm leaning towards the solar generators were perfect at the end of experimental - just weak enough to be realistic on Akua. Technically Akua isn't exactly Ideal Conditions for Solar Output anyway - and it makes alot more sense to deploy them realistically in space - just my 2 cents. Anyway - I was always with the camp that believed Solar wasn't designed to be a primary energy source for very long - it was more meant for supplemental and beginner energy.

~The Only way to under-engineer is to actually miss an important component; The Ways to over-engineer are endless.

Just one thing so far for Solar panels, You should make it so the energy from the panels are used first BEFORE any the power from any connected generators are used. In this way, we can use generators as automatic backups or just use generators for offset the power consumption spikes when needed. Right now, if I have a generator connected to the same grid as the solar panels, the power from the generators are still used first.

Just one thing so far for Solar panels, You should make it so the energy from the panels are used first BEFORE any the power from any connected generators are used. In this way, we can use generators as automatic backups or just use generators for offset the power consumption spikes when needed. Right now, if I have a generator connected to the same grid as the solar panels, the power from the generators are still used first.

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After extensive testing on Test Branch I can confirm this is ALREADY the way it works - unless they changed it during deployment.

~The Only way to under-engineer is to actually miss an important component; The Ways to over-engineer are endless.

To Be clear I tested a base with Solar and Generators - Even after leaving both fuelled at top - after 1 in-game day passes the fuel in the tank was still at max.

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I'm not seeing that. I have 6 panels and a capacitor along with my generators and during the daylight hours (full sunny day starter planet) I see my fuel tanks deplete and the capacitor charge up. This is not a new game.

I get that many players approach ship building from a military perspective. It's sexy. It's practical. It's bloody FUN!

BUT

If you want a real challenge, building from an civilian/scientific exploration standpoint is amazing. Building ship light on armor and weapons is a serious challenge, especially if you build from the 'fragile' standpoint that an interplanetary vessel cannot make planetfall.

I'd like to build 'classic' ships envisioned before the actual advent of space travel or in it's very early days. Think Jules Verne or early Asimov, Heinlein, or Arthur C. Clarke.

To this end, CV solar panels would be very helpful. I know they're not a 'true' light sail, but they're as close as I think we can get in E:GS

There are a number of other things I'd like to see eventually:

retractable landing gear

some way to make cylinders or spheres of varying sizes (think the Discovery from 2001: A Space Odyssey and 'wheel and spoke' space stations)

true 'variable-size' doors, ramps, and other things that come in various sizes. e.g.: Pick opposite corners of a hangar door, whatever the dimensions are, and the system uses enough 'blocks' to create a custom sized hangar door.

IRIS doors! you know, the ones with the sliding petals that open like a camera shutter?

CABLES! Pick two endpoints and you get a cable strung between them. Think anchor cables for a light sail mast.

more diagonal stuff. Right now we can create rectangular 45 degree shapes using ramp blocks. how about some large and small cylinder shapes that can run at 45 degrees? Maybe stuff that runs from opposite corners from a cube? This would open up a lot of creative freedom.

Actual working docking system

configurable blinking lights for ship marker lights and landing pads

Where is an appropriate place for such suggestions?

Thanks!
Les

Oh. And for the love of all that is space, can we PLEASE move past the 'Star Wars' single-biome planets? You've got a decent start on this with the biome changing by altitude. When we get to bigger planets without the polar force fields can we look at changing the biome based on latitude as well?

I set up a test structure with no generator and 16 solar panels on akua pulling a 504kw load and it ALWAYS drains to zero even during daylight hours.

If 16 panels can't even run 9 grow lights, a group of small O2 tanks and one ventilator then what's the point of even putting them on a structure?

Why is it limited to one battery as well? One fuel tank and one O2 tank only for the next trick perhaps? Granted at this moment the question is completely irrelevant since the one battery can't be charged enough to even be usable, but assuming at some point hopefully it will, why can I not add extra power storage if I could get sufficient production from the panels? In the real world you CAN run 24/7 on solar alone if you have a large enough battery bank and sufficient number of panels, assuming the sun is still working of course, so why not here?

The structure is intended to be used as a stand alone public access farm for whoever happens by so the running theme of design is minimal hands on as much as possible. Even with the original design and fuel tanks that only draw 1kw each it was still draining fuel continuously. That's why I yanked the generator and fuel tanks for testing.

The solar panels occupy as much space as the entire structure does. I would kinda expect a bit more performance out of them.

EDIT: I just spawned yours in. It spawned with 100% charge on the battery. I took out the generator and two fuel tanks and it's depleting with clear sky and the sun directly overhead. Same under performance problem with the panels.

The structure is intended to be used as a stand alone public access farm for whoever happens by so the running theme of design is minimal hands on as much as possible. Even with the original design and fuel tanks that only draw 1kw each it was still draining fuel continuously. That's why I yanked the generator and fuel tanks for testing.

The solar panels occupy as much space as the entire structure does. I would kinda expect a bit more performance out of them.

EDIT: I just spawned yours in. It spawned with 100% charge on the battery. I took out the generator and two fuel tanks and it's depleting with clear sky and the sun directly overhead. Same under performance problem with the panels.

That turned into an extremely difficult question to answer. The panels just straight up stopped working. No led's, no output, nothing. I had to break them and replace them to get them working again. Any attempt to respawn the structure from a bp crashes the game.

Someone add that to the bug list.

How many green bars are showing on the panels?

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Two. So it should be about 50%ish efficiancy.
Pushing out about 450ish kw at peak for an area big enough to park a class 2 cv on.

Factors that will increase or reduce the efficiency in SPACE:
- Angle of panel towards sun: best efficiency when sun hits perpendicular on panel
- Distance of sun: the further the orbit playfield is away from sun, the lower the efficiency (eg lower efficiency in Ningues orbit than Aestus orbit)

On my sector map it shows ningues as the closest orbit to the sun aestus is the 3rd planet in orbit from the sun. Which seems odd that ningues is the coldest planet. This default game. So is ningues going to have the highest efficiency with masperon having the lowest?

The panels just straight up stopped working. No led's, no output, nothing. I had to break them and replace them to get them working again. Any attempt to respawn the structure from a bp crashes the game. Someone add that to the bug list.

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I've seen that happen too, though during the Experimental Branch and in Creative Mode. I did report that as a bug during the Experimental Branch testing, but its got to be a toughy for the Devs. You basically have to create a bunch of bases with a panel or two, then let a game run for a while and keep checking the panels.

I've seen that happen too, though during the Experimental Branch and in Creative Mode. I did report that as a bug during the Experimental Branch testing, but its got to be a toughy for the Devs. You basically have to create a bunch of bases with a panel or two, then let a game run for a while and keep checking the panels.

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I have a bp that has the malfunctioning panels in it if a dev wants it.

Good luck spawning it though. Spits out a memory error and shuts the game down when you try to place it. That's unique to that one bp only and it's never happened before as well so it's not something wrong with my system.

I have a bp that has the malfunctioning panels in it if a dev wants it.

Good luck spawning it though. Spits out a memory error and shuts the game down when you try to place it. That's unique to that one bp only and it's never happened before as well so it's not something wrong with my system.

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I'm sure they'd love to have the BP and a Saved Game. You can report it here...

My pennies worth concerning realism and solar panels---
I build them as a hobby; so, I can speak a few things about them and the electronics which support them.
Currently, panels have about a 17% efficiency---at peak--unless in direct sunlight forever (give or take a few % depending upon the proper manufacturing techniques--or the lack there of).

Heat is the byproduct of panels; perhaps a form of co-generation might be considered to recoup the heat---like a water-based heat exchanger which melts snow off the face of the panels or provides 'warm' water for use by personnel.

All the factors mentioned above---indirect sunlight of all sorts---to one extent or another---are all true but don't forget the losses of efficiencies as you connect the panels through solar charge controllers, proper wiring----including diameter, etc. and then---ultimately---to the dc load you wish to drive---motors, alarms, etc. (which have losses, too.)

Inverters create losses----some things you don't want to power by inverters! (computers--as an example.)
Distance between panels and the panel's load create losses.